Facebook business pages are changing (again), but there’s no need to panic!

Many of our clients have been receiving emails from Facebook stating, “We want to let you know that your Page’s template will be changing.” Remember you are in control of how your page looks. If you ignore these emails, your page will automatically change (and you will be given a date when this will happen). You can change to the recommended template immediately, by clicking on “Learn More” or you can keep your existing template under page settings. However, we recommend changing your template as Facebook is giving you the chance to let potential customers know more about your business e.g. if you are a restaurant you can showcase your menus, if you are a shop you can direct people to make a purchase.

According to Facebook, the new templates are the result of people and businesses wanting “easier and faster ways to connect with each other.” They go on to say, “Relevant information such as hours, price range and recommendations are prioritised so people can easily take action, like placing an order or contacting you directly.” Facebook again says that the new page layouts have the aim of seeing better engagement with consumers by “showcasing important information specific to each page’s industry.”

One of the bigger changes that we can see so far is that in the new templates, action buttons will be featured near the top of the page, encouraging users to ‘do something’– so whether that is booking an appointment, placing an order, purchasing online etc will depend on what you offer and the options will depend on the template chosen.

If you’re an admin on Facebook, you will likely get an email soon (if you haven’t already) prompting you to switch your current Facebook page to one of the new templates. We recommend you activate the change. Simply click on the “Learn More” link in the email and then when you get to the page, click the “Apply Template Now” button.

If you have not received an email about the changes simply log on to your page, click on settings, click on edit page and you’ll see the templates there.

Facebook will inform you what your current template is, and which one they recommend for your page. PLEASE NOTE if you don’t change it yourself, Facebook will automatically select a template they think is best suited for your brand at the end of August 2018.

No matter which template you select, you still have the option to customize the order of the tabs, and choose which ones are visible to users by going to Settings, Edit Page. So these changes don’t mean you’ll lose control of how your Facebook page looks, you will just have to spend a little bit of time tweaking it.

The templates available are:

Standard– This is what most pages are currently. Through this update Facebook is tending to prompt you to select a more specific template below.

Services– designed to help people find your services and get in touch. (THIS IS THE TEMPLATE WE HAVE CHOSEN FOR ONE TO THREE).

Business– designed to help you manage your business, including areas for special offers and job postings.

Shopping– designed to showcase products and make it easy for people to shop online.

Video page– designed to highlight video content on your page.

Simply pick the template that is the best match for your business.

As always – our advice, whatever the template you’re using, is to keep your page fresh with engaging content, imagery and video and think about who your audience is. Speak to them, don’t sell to them and enjoy Facebook for the marketing resource it is.